Guilt-ridden robber jailed 4 years

A YOUNG man in eastern China was jailed for four years after he was talked out of robbery by a woman he was trying to rob and turned himself in out of guilt.

Zhen Kedong, a migrant worker in Jiangsu Province, said he stopped a police car to turn himself in as he could not bear the guilt after he tried to rob a house on September 3 last year.

Jiangyin City People's Court said Zhen was given a lenient sentence because he turned himself in, according to Xinhua news agency yesterday.

The verdict said 21-year-old Zhen decided to rob an apartment as he was out of money and entered an apartment he found unlocked. Zhen took 100 yuan before he encountered Lu Meizhen, the apartment's owner, as he was about to leave.

Zhen panicked and tied 57-year-old Lu up with cloth and threatened her not to call the police with a knife.

Yet Lu calmly persuaded Zhen to untie her and let her cook her meal as it was late. Lu told him that she would not call police or anybody else.

Lu invited the robber to eat dinner with her. Zhen talked with Lu the whole night and left the apartment next morning. Zhen directly went back to his hometown in Anhui Province.

Burdened by the guilt for the next six months, Zhen returned to Jiangyin and turned himself in, the report said.

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